Frequently or rarely

The Clintons are having trouble keeping their lies straight. That’s the conclusion I draw from Bill Clinton’s interview with CBS’s Charlie Rose on Monday. Rose asked Clinton if the missus was simply dehydrated when she collapsed at the 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sunday. “When you look at that collapse, that video that was taken, you wonder if it’s not more serious than dehydration,” Rose observes.

“Well, if it is, then it’s a mystery to me and all of her doctors,” Clinton states. “Frequently — well, not frequently, rarely, on more than one occasion, over the last many, many years, the same sort of thing’s happened to her when she got severely dehydrated, and she’s worked like a demon, as you know, as secretary of State, as a senator and in the year since.”

It’s the kind of mistake anyone can make, especially anyone like Bill Clinton. He frequently says “frequently” when he means “rarely.” He rarely says “rarely” when he means “frequently.” Or vice versa.

CBS News helped Clinton clarify his comments by editing out the “frequently” from the interview clip when it was played on the CBS Evening News (video below). CBS News later explained that the CBS Evening News segment “was edited purely for time while on deadline for the live broadcast.” CBS News engages in such news management practices rarely or frequently, depending on your point of view.

On the question of “rarely” or “frequently” at CBS News, I urge interested readers to take a look back at my long set of notes on Sheryl Attkisson’s Stonewalledhere (part 1), here (part 2) and here (part 3). Speaking from her experience inside CBS News, Attkisson makes the case for “frequently.”